Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar: Security around Aurangzeb’s tomb in Khuldabad, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (formerly Aurangabad) has been tightened following threats from right-wing outfits to demolish it. The tomb is an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) site. The latest threat came from the Bajrang Dal, with its Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa area convenor Vivek Kulkarni saying that the structure will meet the same fate as the Babri Masjid did in 1992.
He has said that the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) will organise a ‘Kar Sewa’ with lakhs of people and destroy the structure. The Bajrang Dal will organise a Dharna and also write to the collector, before organising this Kar Sewa.
The matter first came up on March 7 this year after Udayan Raje Bhosale, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji and MP from Satara, publicly demanded the demolition of Aurangzeb’s tomb. Labelling Aurangzeb a ‘thief and looter’, he questioned the necessity of preserving the site. He asked those who revered the site to take the tomb to their own homes.
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was not to be left far behind. On March 8, he claimed that many people feel that the tomb should be removed. He, however, maintained that any action has to be taken legally as the site enjoys a ‘protected’ status under the ASI.
According to ASI officials, the tomb enjoys a ‘monument of national interest’ status and visitors do not require tickets to visit it. The ASI had to shut down entry to the tomb once in 2022 after the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) threatened to destroy it.
Locals claimed that fewer people have visited the site since the controversy erupted. This has had an adverse impact on small businesses around the tomb. “Ramzan can also be a reason behind a fall in the number of visitors. We will have to wait and see. If things remain as they are now, many of us will have to wind up our businesses here,” a trader said.
